I used to work in a university library as an administrative officer but I retired early at the age of 51 because I had very bad eyesight – I’m registered blind now. Me and my husband moved down to Emsworth a few years ago. It was here where I developed some problems walking – I was using a three-wheeled old ladies rollator just to go a few hundred yards – and found out it was due to disc compression in my thoracic region.
I was offered an operation to reduce the pain. I was told there were risks associated with the operation but I still thought it was worth going for it. I came out of the operation and I was paralysed in both legs. I spent a few weeks in Southampton hospital, where the spinal ward was great and the nurses knew what they were doing and were very kind to us, and a couple weeks in Portsmouth hospital while I waited for a bed in Salisbury.
Moving between the hospitals was traumatic, mainly because my eyesight meant it took me a while to get my bearings again and work out where all my things were and what the shape of my room was. I was disorientated by not quite knowing how the system worked here, but after a few days of isolation my first physiotherapy session consisted of having a tour round the ward and the gyms and the hydrotherapy pool and Horatio’s Garden, so I managed to get my bearings.
It was a great pleasure to see how big Horatio’s Garden was and how lovely and colourful it was, because we were in the height of summer with lots of things in bloom. When the sun is shining, I enjoy sitting in the central area with the tables with the parasols, getting nice and warm in the sunshine. I like to get my feet up on one of the benches or chairs in order to give them a rest from being in the downward position. The volunteers were so welcoming and so helpful to the patients. If you can’t make yourself a cup of coffee or a cup of tea there’s someone there that will help you and they’re just so willing to just chat with you and make you feel as if the garden is yours to use as you want.
In the 14 weeks since I’ve been here, I’ve taken part in art therapy activities and garden therapy with the head gardener. We just chatter away, and I’ve been potting plants and taking cuttings and watching them take root. I’m already a keen gardener, so it felt nice to get back to doing things that felt a bit normal. I also like doing crafty things. I’ve never considered myself as being particularly artistic, but I’ve had a go at that and have been pleasantly surprised with the results!
It’s great to have the afternoon session on the Sunday which gives us a change of scenery, especially those of us who don’t have that many visitors. People have come from all parts of the South West, so some visitors could be travelling from as far away as Cornwall and so are less frequent. I’m a bit luckier because we’re only living in Emsworth. It’s about an hour and ten minutes away so I get a visit from my husband and my other friends in Emsworth quite often. My visitors love to see the garden, they always get a tour round the gym and hydrotherapy pool from me before I take them down to it. It’s great to be able to offer them a cup of tea or coffee in the garden room and cake too. They just think the garden’s wonderful and it’s such a great resource really for us to have it.
Hopefully, I’ll be home in about a month’s time. My husband’s been busy beavering away, changing the bathroom into a wet room, changing the front door so I can get in it, putting a stairlift in. I’ve just about reached all the goals they’ve set me here, so now I need try and settle back into life in Emsworth. I can’t do everything that I used to be able to do, but I’m sure I can find new things to do.
To anyone who is experiencing the same thing, my advice to you is to stick with it and don’t get too demoralised at the beginning. It feels completely overwhelming to start with, but you’ll get there in the end and hopefully be able to make a new life for yourself.
